'I SHOULD NOT BE ALIVE': Rodeo rider gored in neck by bull’s horn miraculously survives (2025)

A professional rodeo rider is lucky to be alive after being impaled in the neck by a bull’s horn during an event in Florida.

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Zachary Naegele was competing in the Conley Invitation Bull Riding on Feb. 7 in Palmetto, north of Sarasota,when he was bucked off the bull that he was riding.

As he was thrown forward by the animal, its horn punctured a hole through his neck and carotid artery.

Horrifying footage shows the bull’s horn wedged three-inches deep in the 24-year-old’s neck as he is thrown off the beast’s back.

While at first the native of Amity, La., didn’t realize the extent of his injuries, thinking the bull had only hit his face, he recalled he then felt his neck starting to pump out blood.

After quickly being attended to by on-site medical personnel, Naegele was rushed to HCA Florida Blake Hospital in Bradenton, Fla., where he underwent emergency surgery.

WARNING: Disturbing images

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In rodeo, horn tipping is standard practice — meaning the bulls’ horns are blunted to lessen, but not eliminate, the chances of riders getting gored. However, that didn’t stop this “freak” accident from occurring.

“That night I drew a bull that I knew and I had seen before. I was actually very happy to draw him but it ended up being this freak accident,” Naegele said.

“The bull ended up busting me off but when he (did) his horn ended up puncturing through my neck under my jaw and going into my neck about three inches.

“At first I didn’t know it impaled me in the neck. I saw the blood when I ran away and as soon as I got behind the chute I grabbed my chin because I thought the bull had busted my chin or jaw.

“But when I grabbed my jaw, the blood was still pouring out. If you’ve ever taken a syringe full of water and squirted it, that’s how it looked coming out of my neck.

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“It was a scary moment to see that much blood coming out.”

Naegele described the ride to the hospital, saying that he could feel himself “slowly dying.”

“During the 20-minute ride to the hospital, I felt myself slowly losing breath and going in and out and slowly dying,” he said.

“When I was in the ambulance, I lost so much blood. The first thing I lost was my eyesight and my vision went black.

“All I could do was listen at the moment in time. I could hear the ENT telling me to keep breathing and to not give up.

“Right before I got to the hospital, I felt myself taking my last breath and I blacked out. I got put on the table (in hospital) and I could hear everybody yelling.

“I remember them saying they couldn’t feel a pulse in my neck or arm anymore, but could feel a pulse in my foot, so they kept trying.

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“I lost so much blood, I thought I wasn’t going to make it.’

After being stabilized at the hospital, Naegele underwent plastic surgery to have his carotid artery rebuilt and the nerves in his neck reattached.

“It was more surprising (when I woke up) as I didn’t think I was going to make it,” Naegele said, adding that “the doctor told me that I should not be alive and that I’m blessed to be.”

Miraculously, Naegele has made a remarkable recovery and is now able to walk, talk and eat on his own after being discharged from hospital.

And, even after the near-death experience, the bull rider of nearly a decade says that he wants to return to the rodeo arena soon and chase his dream of becoming a member of the Oklahoma Wildcats — a Professional Bull Riders team.

“I am very shocked at myself that I am making a recovery this fast. Within a few months I plan on getting back (into bull riding) and chasing my dream,” he said.

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